good morning. breaking news good morning. breaking news -- the death toll has climbed in the wake of a tornado outbreak in southeast with now at least 16 people killed as the storm threat heads east. we'll have the latest on the extreme weather. where is she? a lunchbox, a cell phone, and more disturbing new clues in the desperate search for a college student taken from her home by a man dressed in camouflage. and practice makes perfect. the princess bride kate middleton goes to westminster abbey for a regal rehearsal and new details emerge on where

she'll be on the eve of the royal wedding. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a saturday. i'm lester holt. >> i'm amy robach. every time i see video of tornadoes like that, i can't believe people get this close. look at that. >> every time i look at this, i think which way do you go? how do you get out of the path of something like that? jackson, mississippi is where this is shot. the cars, the trucks on the road as the tornado moves across the highway. in all, there are 46 reports of tornados in the southeast yesterday. more are forecast for today. much more live about the extreme weather in a live report. scary stuff. also, the search for more bodies in the new york serial killer case and the hunt had police diving off waters of one beach

where the remains of ten had already been found. authorities are looking to the possibility that more than one person may have been responsible for the deaths. we'll have that story. continuing the series on unexplained mysteries with an infamous crime case that's more than 100 years old. >> the grim tale of lizzie borden who was tried but found not guilty of killing her father and stepmother. what happened? i got to hold the ax. it's a little creepy. all for you ahead. an amazing year. we're talking about jennifer lopez. the "american idol" judge just named "people" magazine's most beautiful woman in the world. she's come along way from jenny on the block. more on her in the spotlight. good for her. breaking news on the extreme weather and deadly tornados in the south and the plains that left at least 16 people dead. the weather channel's eric fisher has more on the killer storm. >> large tornado crossing the highway just in front of us.

>> reporter: storm chaser footage shows one of nearly a dozen tornados that ripped through the southern plains thursday night. this twister barreled through oklahoma killing two elderly sisters. high school students huddled in a storm shelter as it tore through the building overhead, picking up school buses and flipping them on their sides. >> it looks like somebody stepped on it. >> reporter: all the students survived, but seniors, three weeks from graduation, wonder where they'll finish the year. >> from a school standpoint, it's a total loss. i don't see a possibility of having school in these buildings again. >> that's violent. >> multivortex. >> reporter: at one point, the system drops three tornadoes side-by-side. >> we got two, three. >> reporter: in western arkansas, no tornadoes, but violent winds had tragic consequences. a father and 18-month-old daughter were sleeping in the mobile home when the wind blew a tree on the trailer, killing both. the child's mother survived. in little rock, a tree crashed into a home killing an 8-year-old boy and his mother who climbed into his bed to comfort him. >> there was a 2-year-old in the house, that is fine, that was in

the back part. that child is okay. >> reporter: further east, in cole, arkansas, straight line winds ripped a double wide mobile home from its moorings, and tossed it 70 feet, killing a 64-year-old woman and critically injuring her husband. late friday morning in mississippi, swirling winds greeted this water spout which appeared over clifton reservoir. and storm chasers captured dramatic footage of a tornado near jackson. >> oh, my gosh. >> reporter: it peeled the roof off this bank in clinton. police did manage to recover all the money inside. the tornado then crossed over interstate 20. >> the interstate shut completely down. we have two cars that are flipped upside down. >> reporter: for "today" eric fisher from tushka, oklahoma. down to tuscaloosa, alabama which received a direct hit from one of the tornados. seven people are dead there. jim cantore joins us live from there. good morning. >> good morning, lester. you can see some of the damage here that's sprewn all across alabama. power pole snapped off. huge trees bent over.

at the same time, trees behind that still left standing. the skipping nature of the tornadoes very, very apparent here in the tuscaloosa area today. from what we've seen which is the most amazing to me over the the last couple of days is the long track of these storms. let's take you back to clinton, mississippi, yesterday. you can see what happened there. this was a huge tornado. probably an ef-3. winds over 150 miles per hour here which moved through, but the same supercell or parent storm of thunderstorms that produced that tornado tracked all the way across mississippi and across alabama. 200 miles and produced the damage that we have here in tuscaloosa. the day before that, again, another wild-looking tornado. this is what we call a multi-vortex tornado. the two twin tornadoes rotating around each other. it's believed that as that occurs, and as many of these have occurred, that's how you get the skipping nature to the damage where one house is absolutely torn apart and the other house is spared. we see that a lot, especially when we have these multi-vortex

tornados. either way you slice it, all of the counties across alabama have suffered some type of damage, flooding or certainly what you see behind me here and that's why the governor has declared a state of emergency for all those counties. today it's about cleanup here in the southeast while the carolinas deal with another tornado threat. back to you. >> jim cantore, thanks. the deadly storm system is moving east and there are new threats of possible tornadoes. bill karins is here to tell us what to expect. bill? >> good morning, lester. this is a three-day tornado outbreak. started on thursday. dealt with yesterday. now we have to deal with one more day of this miserable weather. the area of concern this morning, tornado watches at this hour up in areas of eastern georgia to south carolina until 1:00 this afternoon. the upstate of south carolina has a threat of tornadoes. then as we go to the afternoon hours, the concern switches to areas of north carolina and turn up the coast, areas like savannah, charleston, wilmington, up to the raleigh area, all the way through the

outer banks and as far as norfolk and virginia beach, you're at the risk of tornados this afternoon. make sure you know where to go if a tornado warning is issued in your area. a deadly storm system tracking across the country heading to your region next. back to you. >> thank you. now to politics and the big budget deal pushed by president obama. it comes as an open mike caught him making some can dit comments about his battle with republicans. nbc news us who correspondent savannah guthrie has more. >> reporter: the president came back from a triple-header of campaign fundraisers in chicago. >> that's what this campaign is about. >> reporter: taking questions at private fundraiser thursday night, the president caught on a private microphone he did not know was recording talking about last week's budget negotiations with republicans. >> i said you want to repeal health care, go at it. we'll have that debate. you won't be able to do that by nickel and diming me in the budget. do you think we're stupid. >> reporter: the president aimed

fire at republican congressman paul ryan, whose 2012 budget proposal the president ripped on wednesday. >> this is the same guy who voted for two wars that were unpaid for, voted for the bush tax cuts that were unpaid for. >> reporter: on capitol hill, house republicans passed ryan's budget plan. it cuts $6 trillion from the deficit over the next decade in part by raising the eligibility age of future medicare recipients. the budget likely won't pass the democrat-controlled senate, but the republicans said they're taking a stand. >> we have a president unwilling to lead. we have too many politicians worried about the next election and not worried about the next generation. >> reporter: republicans are drawing battle lines over a vote to raise how much the u.s. can borrow. >> there will be no debt limit increase unless it's accompanied by serious spending cuts and real budget reforms. >> reporter: in an interview, the president warned failure to raise the limit will devastate the economy. >> he's absolutely right it's not going to happen without some spending cuts.

i'm confident we're going to raise the debt limit. we always have. we will do it again. >> reporter: the white house says the president still prefers the congress vote to raise the debt limit without putting any conditions on it. the fear is that even the threat of a u.s. default on its obligations could have severe economic consequences. for "today," savannah guthrie, nbc news, the white house. >> mark halperin is a editor of "time" magazine. this paul ryan budget proposes to make changes in medicare. that's been a political no-no. how risky is it for the republicans to put it forward? >> it's a huge risk. we're in times that are totally different. all of the political analysis, the overlay of how we think about american politics needs to be thrown out the window. barack obama got elected. unbelievable. the republicans come back in with a different vision of government and they sweep into power. so people are taking a risk in voting for this budget, changing medicare, not for current

retirees, but down the road. it is a risk they're willing to take. like barack obama, these republicans say -- and i believe them, they're willing to lose their jobs to fight for what they believe in. we'll see if they make that bet and lose that bet. >> the democratically controlled senate we know won't likely pass the house version of this budget plan. so what are we expecting to see in terms of this back-and-forth now to get something passed? >> it's an unpredictable situation. there's two things that could happen. one is the whole thing could fall apart. they could be at lauger heads. nothing serious gets done. some sort of short-term fix and then we have a big election in 2012 to fight out the two competing visions of government. the other option is something people don't predict. a compromise in the lame duck session on last year on a tax deal. we saw a compromise to keep the government open. maybe there'll be one more. a real challenge for the president. he's the guy that put himself forward as a candidate saying i

can get this thing done, i can bridge that partisanship. the budget deal they just passed, nancy pelosi voted against it, very liberal. michele bachmann, the congresswoman from minnesota voted against it. that's the model the president says he can do. it's a big challenge. >> the president -- we love the moments, getting caught off mike. we love the open mike. the white house is saying what he said off mike is consistent with what he said in public. is it a big deal? >> the white house is right, it is consistent. the problem is the point of view it represents. the president does not like or respect at least the policies and maybe even the individuals behind the policies of this republican budget plan. he says it does too much to hurt middle class people and seniors, tax cuts for the -- too many tax cuts for the wealthy. those are policy disputes, but the president personalized them this week. the biggest challenge, i think is not bridging the policy divides but the personalities. politics like life. it comes down to humanity and how people feel about each other

more than anything else. the kind of things that the president said in the open mike enflames the republicans to compromise on the big budget deal to get our fiscal house in order that much harder. >> mark halperin, as always, thanks so much. we appreciate it. melissa francis is at the newsdesk for more of today's top stories. good morning. good morning, everyone. we begin in afghanistan where a suicide bomber killed five coalition soldiers and four afghan troops. it happened at the military base entrance in the eastern part of the country. the bomber was reportedly disguised as an afghan soldier. four others were wounded. the taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. now to libya where government forces bombarded the rebel held city of misrata with at least 100 rockets. this as the rebels appear to be more organized in their push west. nbc's stephanie gosk is in benghazi this morning with the latest. stephanie, good morning. >> melissa, we were allowed through the rebels forces, haven't been letting me through

for days west of ajdabiyah. when we got to the front lines, we were surprised by what we saw. these are not just rag tag revolutionaries, here are units of professional soldiers who defected from gadhafi's army when the uprising began. they say new, more advanced weaponry will be in their hands within days. we're in the last staging area before the front line. we haven't seen any of the new heavy weapons. what we have seen are the new land cruiser pick up trucks. they said they come from qatar. the gulf nation of qatar has also supplied new boots and uniforms. a career officer said professional soldiers have started to control some of the less predictable volunteers. the rebels are still excitable, but we are united with them, he says. we're all the army. during our interview, a new attack -- [ gun fire ] >> hearing gun fire. >> reporter: and then this, gadhafi forces firing artillery.

in the last few minutes they've come under attack. we've seen something we haven't seen before. they're not running. there appears to be battlefield strategy. commanders up front are sending orders to the launchers in the back. incoming shells keep dropping but the line doesn't move. it is by no means a match for what they face up the road. but it now looks like this rebel army is doing better with what they have. commanders on the ground tell us that they have a new network of communication with nato in the last four days and it includes satellite phones. it is faster and more reliable. it is allowing them to coordinate better with nato air strikes and avoid any more friendly fire incidents. melissa? >> stephanie gosk, thanks so much. back in the u.s., gas prices continue to climb. the national average for a gallon of gas is now $3.81 according to aaa. that's up 8 cents a gallon in

the last week alone. finally you probably won't find this in your grocery aisle. take a look at this video making the rounds on the internet. it shoulds a produce market in thailand nestled on a set of train tracks. when an actual train comes by, everyone casually leans out of the way. watch this as the train goes by. no big deal. it barrels right over the veggies, even more amazing after the train passes, the market falls right back into place. it is business as usual. no problem. i wonder if you get a discount on the ones that got run over. it saves time shopping. that's a check of the news, back to you, lester, amy and bill. >> nothing like exhaust mixed with your veggies. >> that's amazing. look at this. >> little green spinach. >> look how casual everyone is about it. >> the produce is perfectly placed there. you don't see anything gets crushed. >> it goes under. >> just a little extra smoke, i'm guessing. wow. i like how everyone starts unfolding the -- that's

hilarious. there we go. >> all right. anyway. bill karins is here. he's got our first check of the forecast, bill. >> make me appreciate my farmer's market today. let's chat about what happened and what's going to happen with the weather. we had all the miserable severe weather with us the last two days. today that threat is going to push off the eastern seaboard. by sunday, everything will be fine and calm around the country. we have more day of good saturday morning to you, we're watching kind of a mild forecast, what you'll notice there on the satellite, we'll have a chance of a few showers dropping into the far north bay today, around 70s in san jose. we'll see it cooler off to the north to start the weekend. but by too time the weekend wraps up tomorrow, we'll see rain from north to south and clearing out again for the middle part of the week. forecast.

that's a look at your weekend forecast. lester? thanks. this morning, an nbc news investigation on health care in america and how difficult it is for many americans to get approval for medical tests from their insurance companies. nbc senior investigative correspondent lisa myers has more. a little over a year ago, 46-year-old mike fields went to the doctor, complaining of pressure in his chest, extreme fatigue, shortness of breath. >> i had a bad feeling that there was something wrong. something bad. >> reporter: the doctors sent him to get a cardiac stress test. radioactive material is injected to the heart to assess blood flow. but his insurance company, blue cross/blue shield of delaware denied approval of the test -- three times. what were you told? >> i was told the letter stated they didn't deem it necessary. >> reporter: recorded calls showed fields' doctor's staff pleaded for approval. >> i'm at a total loss.

this guy needs a stress test or he's going to drop dead. >> reporter: exasperated doctors sent him to the hospital where a doctor found a key blood vessel almost completely blocked. is this considered a serious heart problem? >> this is as serious as it gets. if this closes, your heart is gone. >> reporter: the next day he had an emergency quadruple heart bypass. if mike fields had not come to this hospital -- >> wouldn't be alive today. guarantee you. >> reporter: the decision is made by med solutions, hired by the insurer to preapprove medical tests. the company works for insurers nationwide and boasts it can cut costs 25% to 30%. a senate investigation of med solutions cases in delaware found some denials were warranted but that a significant number of medically necessary nuclear stress tests were denied inappropriately, about 10% to 15% of all tests. senator j. rockefeller says it's

an industry strategy. >> it's absolutely deliberate. it's what they've always done. the more they say no, the more money they make. >> reporter: in fact, delaware's insurance commissioner reported that under the contract, med solutions' fees were to be cut if it doesn't save blue cross 20% or more. med solutions disputes it senate's findings and argues cardiologists overuse the tests because they have a financial interest. the company said the guidelines ensure the patients receive the right tests at the right time. at no point ever is any criteria considered that doesn't put quality and safety patient care first. both med solutions and blue cross can't comment on the fields case because of privacy laws. blue cross said it's changed procedures and no longer requires preapproval of nuclear stress tests. machines for the tests are made by phillips, siemens and general

electric, a part owner of nbc universal. fields has not gotten over the desperation he felt last year. >> i knew something was wrong with me. i knew it. i didn't know what to do. >> reporter: but he considers himself lucky to be alive and treasures time with his son even more. for "today," lisa myers, nbc news, newark, delaware. andrew ruben of new york university medical center is the host of health care connect on sirius radio. he joins us this morning from new orleans. good morning. thanks for being with us. >> good morning, lester. >> you have a lot of experience dealing with this sort of thing. is that typical for a denial on a procedure like that? >> it happens every day. it doesn't just happen with nuclear cardiac stress tests. but we need to step back, lester. these companies are hired to look at utilization of certain testing, you know, tests that are done around the country. and this is what they're supposed to be doing. >> is it more likely than not when a first request goes in, it is denied? is that fairly standard?

>> no, i don't think that's -- that's not necessarily true. what happens the physician or the doctor's office needs to explain to the insurance company, in this case, a third party vendor, what the reason for the test is. if they don't meet the criteria that's established by the insurance company, they may then be denied. but usually physician offices have the criteria and know what it is to get the test approved. however, as you can see, sometimes that process does not work. >> there are two sides of a story. the other side being that health care costs are going -- going through the roof. so where's the balance? how do the companies find the balance with the doctors? >> it's an impossible balance to find. you really need to make sure you are prepared for this in fact when it happens. 10% to 15% of the tests were denied inappropriately. the doctor's office and the patient needs to know what to do when in fact the test gets -- >> equip us with that knowledge. what do we do? the doctor says, you need this test, the insurance company denies it. as a patient, what's my next

step? >> you immediately call your insurance company and appeal the decision. so there's a process when you buy insurance to have the health care insurance and you're entitled to an immediate appeal. you want to call the insurance company and get that appeal process going. >> you need the doctor as your ally as well, correct? >> the doctor is the best ally here. the doctors -- again, the doctors know how to do this because it happens all the time now with all of the tests. there's more and more tests in this country every day. new technologies come out. we're going to hear about this a lot. the doctor gets on the phone. the office gets on the phone. they call the medical director at the insurance companies and plead their case. the problem is it's time consuming and the doctors get busy. the patient is at the center and needs to make sure to be advocating for this test on their behalf. >> bottom line, do not give up. andrew ruben, thank you for being with us this morning. we appreciate it. >> yeah, don't give up, lester. still to come today, abducted from her home, the latest on the search for a 20-ye

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still to come on "today," the royal wedding and the new push to change the monarchy sesession laws that some say a sexist. >> unbelievable buys, but first, these messages. [ man ] i got this new citi thankyou card and started earning loads of points. you got a weather balloon with points? yes, i did. [ man ] points i could use for just about anything. ♪

♪ there it is. [ man ] so i used mine to get a whole new perspective. ♪ [ male announcer ] the new citi thankyou premier card gives you more ways to earn points. what's your story? citi can help you write it. good morning to you, taking off to a nice, dry start, for what is going to be a mixed bag of weather this saturday morning. rob has a look at the forecast for your weekend. >> the weekend starts off on a mild note, but we're going to have to watch for some clouds off to the north that are going to try to drop a new light sprinkles or showers in the north bay. then the rest of the bay come the end of the weekend we'll see a chance for rain.

we can see our temperatures here as we head toward the afternoon, not all that bad, close to 70 in san jose, low 70s from the santa clara valley southward to gilroy. some mid 60s in the north bay. so a lot more sunshine south of san jose, extra clouds off to the north, then late sunday, we'll see the clouds thicken up leading to some rain sunday night heading into monday. we'll get a better idea of how the giants fan attacked is doing next week. doctor will bring him out of his medical coma. he will undergo more tests today so doctors can evaluate his head trauma. meanwhile the support continues for the stow family. giants ace tim lincecum is donating $25,000 to help pay for

stow's medical bills. the hit-and-run driver who caused a woman to be in the hospital remains at large and likely behind the wheel. a fund-raiser was held for shea shaw last night. a driver hit the los gatos teenager in january in san jose around 1:00 in the morning. a public memorial will be held today for the fremont swim coach who died earlier there week. a memorial service for 28-year-old joseph martinez will be held this morning at 11:30 at the point in san jose. the water polo and swim coach collapsed monday at his san jose home and then later died at the hospital. his father says joseph suffered from blood clots. a facebook page has been created in his honor called joseph martinez was my friend/water polo/swim coach.

er> this morning a new land slide is forcing more closures on highway 101 south of big sur. the latest slide is about 64 miles south of carmel. unclear how long that road will be closed until crews can fix the stretch of roadway. highways have been closed on and off across rocky creek where part of the road slipped into the sea just a few weeks ago. the hero at hudson will not have a new -- more on that coming up at 7:00 this morning. also coming up on "today in the ba bay". all the day's stories, plus that mixed bag of weather coming our way. we'll see you in 30 minutes with more local news here, the "today" show continues. the pop tart! can llsbury toaster strudel. the one kids want to eat

than listening ere'noto our favorite songs. there'nothing we love more than listening to our favore song but our favorite thing is eating totino's pizzaolls. but our favoritehing isatg totino's pizolls ♪e're the kids in america ♪ oh, oh,h we are back on this saturday morning, april 16, 2011. it's a brisk spring morning here. that's what we'll call it here in new york city. we're supposed to get some rain later today, but that doesn't seem to bother any of these fine folks outside. we're going to go outside and say hi to them in a bit. but first back to studio 1-a, i'm amy robach along with lester holt. the hunt for a serial killer. >> this case becomes more and more complicated by the day. divers were in the waters off of new york beach friday looking for remains and clues that could connect the unfolding case. as the it intensifies, they're

looking for a crafty criminal who's carefully covered his tracks. and a story that's baffled us for more than 100 years. some of you may remember lizzie borden took an ax. but did she really kill her father and step mother with that ax? we'll take you inside the house where the murders took place. switch gears and a happier subject. the big news about the royal wedding. we learned that kate middleton attended a rehearsal at westminster abbey. and getting in some information about the monarchy secession laws and what it means if their first child is a girl. >> move forward just to make them more comfortable. in the end of the era. a day of mourning for fans of "all my children" and "one life to live" as both shows are cancelled. how can it happen? what will the fate be of our favorite villain, erica kane?

i grew up with that. i did my college classes around it so i could see it. so it's sad. >> just a handful left now on television in general. the audiences have been declining and people have other interests. >> a dying genre. but disturbing new clues in the search for a nursing student who was taken from just outside her home in tennessee. nbc tong trong joins us with more on the investigation. good morning. good morning to you. investigators say they uncovered several belongings belonging to holly bobo and her brother found blood near the scene of the kidnapping but they can't confirm at this point if it's blood from holly. this morning they're correcting some of their statements about her abduction. . >> reporter: in a major change from what it first reported, the tennessee bureau of investigation says the man wearing camouflage did not drag holly bobo from her driveway and into the woods. >> she walked into the woods.

her brother did what he thought was right. >> reporter: special agent mary said her family called 911 after witnessing part of the abduction. >> he had an arm holding her. we feel she knew she was in fear of her life so she was compliant with his demands. >> reporter: this is day four of the massive search. by the truckload, teams headed to the rough terrain. >> the woods are so thick you can't hardly walk through them. you're getting scratched up with briar every time you turn around. >> reporter: investigators are combing an area two counties wide hoping to find more traces of holly. one item described as a lunch purse. >> the owner of this area found a lunch pail that contained the water bottle and things she was taking for lunch that day. i have a feeling she's still alive and okay. the fact that we haven't found anything here local is a good sign. >> reporter: in the small rural community, the search for holly

is personal. >> if we can hit henderson county, maybe benton county. that would be greatly appreciated. pass out as many as you can. >> reporter: many know her as a friend, classmate, neighbor. pink ribbons and prayers are offered to holly's family, still hoping for her safe return. >> if we can find holly, we'll do anything. >> reporter: as for a person of interest in this case, investigators say they don't have one at this point. they have cleared holly's brother and her boyfriend as suspects. the search, again, resumes today. amy? all right, thanks so much. and now for a check of the weather with bill. good morning, bill. >> good morning, amy. all winter long, i look forward to spring. tell you what, i look forward to summer. same system that brought the severe weather is bringing troublesome weather through the great lakes and through the northeast. to duluth, minnesota, northern wisconsin. we have snow to deal with. we have gusty, cold winds from columbus up to buffalo. damaging winds. and we have a heavy rain event likely today.

in the afternoon, the thunderstorms from the south are going to move to the north. heavy rain from dc, philadelphia, to new york. areas could expect one to two inches of rain and possibility of minor flooding. the strong risks of thunderstorms with isolated tornadoes later today right good saturday morning to you, we're watching kind of a mild forecast, but you'll notice on the satellite we'll have a few showers dropping down into the north bay. cooler north of the golden gate where we'll see some extra clouds and showers off to the north to start the weekend. but by the time the weekend wraps up tomorrow, we'll see a chance of rain north to south. rain on monday and clearing out for the middle part of the week. your weekend forecast, you can get that at weather.com. trying to find some of the flames out here. all i can find is the red sox fan. back to you, lester, amy?

gone for good. the shocking end to two long-running soap operas. there are only four soaps left on tv? could your favorite be next? de> if you're house hunting and al,lor a deal, don't fret. barbara cork ran has the home for you. but first, these messages. we demand k9 advantix ii. it not only kills fleas and ticks, it repels most ticks before they can attach and snack on us. frontline plus kills but doesn't repel. any tick that isn't repelled or killed may attach and make a meal of us. so let's put our paws down in pro dst. no fetching, no friendship till we all get k9 advantix ii. join us at poochprotest.com. [ male announcer ] ask your veterinarian about k9 advantix ii. [ male announcer ] build your better breakfast with all the flavors you choose. try an irresistible steak, egg & cheese, with toasty tomato or chipotle southwest sauce on tasty flatbread. only at subway! ♪

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this morning on "today's real estate," have you dreamed of living in a town where the homes have yards with charm. barbara corcoran has found five

great neighborhoods across the country where the homes have a vintage edge at an affordable price. good morning. >> good morning, lester. >> find something under your challenge, under $400,000. but looking for old charm. why is -- why do people gravitate to old homes? >> because they think they're going to be happier in an older house. >> they think. >> they think -- until they pay for the renovation. they find out quickly it's cheaper to build a new house certainly than renovating an old one. >> it is tough. let's start off now. in nashville this week. >> saw you playing that guitar. >> lovely place. you found a break bargain there. >> great bargain. unusual house, typical of the area, cream puff of a house in east nashville. right there, 1923 craftsman style home with all of the old charm that you'd expect in a craftsman home. a quick shot of the back yard back there. what it has is not a lot of property which is typical of the older homes. small back yards so people make do with the back yard.

moving along -- the house comes with a bonus with an open fire pit. it has a nice little pond there. inside the house, it's in meticulous condition. it's surprising that it's so modern, actually. but all of those windows lend itself -- you can do a lot with an old house. a dining room, a peek at the kitchen in the back. the beautiful hardwood floors are original. that kitchen is modern. but they kept the vintage feel to the cabinets. it works there. that's a bedroom, huge bedroom for an old house. most bedrooms are tiny in old houses. a tv room. i'd sit back there and watch tv and be happy forever. what's wrong with that? it's a good house and inexpensive. >> how much? >> $239,000. i hope i got that right. i think i did. >> nice place -- inwish it was $339,000. >> don't correct me like that. >> still a bargain at $339,000. >> they just reduced the price. >> stay tuned. >> to lambertville, new jersey.

it's an industrial area. a changing character. >> total renovation. ignored for years. a bunch of artists and retirees and professionals came in and started to rehab all of the houses. this is a tiny colonial town home, $269,000, freshly painted. enormous curb appeal. almost like a toy house. the yellow color is the most popular color if you want to sell a house in america today with white trim. they took full advantage. inside, great details, exposed beam, raised panelling, random wood floors, a tleehree wood burning fireplaces. not bad. a modern kitchen, but a tiny kitchen. they kept the tone of it. kind of like an old house. great dining room with wainscotting. it's got raised ceiling beams and even the vintage mirror went -- there's two big bedrooms. old houses are small and they have a beautiful deck out back.

there's the vintage bathroom. >> astoria, oregon, one of the oldest communities in the west. >> it's the oldest community west of the mississippi. and this is an area that you can get just ant every type of old house. and not only that, beautiful water and views that go with it. this house looks funky on the outside. you think it would be funky on the inside. once you get -- wow. what a surprise. shabby chic all the way. big windows, freshly painted. everything that's left old in the house they left and anything else they ripped out and made new. i like that modern fireplace right there. great shot. there's a beautiful kitchen. they enlarged it, added space for the kitchen next door. this is a wonderful old house. >> there's a lot. still more we didn't get to. >> save it for the next time. >> real bargains here. >> good to have you on. up next, 13 days to go, new details on where kate middleton will spend her last night as a single lady after these messages. soil you put it in. look,

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this morning, we're counting down to the royal wedding. can you believe it? it's 13 days away. we know where prince william and kate middleton will live after the big day. where will the princess bride stay on the eve of the wedding

and what happens if the first born is a girl. nbc's atia abawi has the answers. every single minute has been planned with precision, pomp, and ceremony. royal high standards are expected of everyone and everything involved. on the eve of the wedding, kate will check in to this five-star hotel. with mom, carol, and sister, pippa by her side. >> hair, nails, makeup testing, maybe changing the hair style at the last minute. all of those things will be taking place within the hotel. >> reporter: the hotel is said to have spent nearly a quarter of a million dollars upgrading the royal suite where she'll spend her last night as a single woman, pulling out all of the stops with hand crafted antiques, silk wallpaper, and a marble bathroom. the cathedral is getting a cleaning too -- literally no stone left unturned. the world expects the wedding to

be picture perfect, and pitch perfect. ♪ >> reporter: the tall and the small have been practicing around the clock. >> slightly nervous, yes. >> the royal wedding is the biggest thing i'm ever going to do. >> reporter: horse play isn't even an option for the animals. the cavalry has kicked it in to high gear. this soldier survived a tour of duty in afghanistan. but has fears about a quick trot to the palace? >> ended up on my back in front of the whole crowd. so that's probably my biggest worry. >> reporter: then they'll seal it with a kiss. that ends chapter one of the fairy tale, but as they say, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the queen and the baby carriage. the british official wants to change the monarchy discriminatory rule book so that if the first child is a girl she would be next in line to become queen. for "today," atia abawi, nbc news, london.

and you can see "today's" live coverage of the royal wedding beginning april 29 at 4:00 a.m. eastern time right here on nbc. >> just ahead, life without erica cane. two of the remaining soaps have been cancelled. what does it mean for soaps on tv? we'll find out.

for soap opera fans, it's the ending they weren't expecting. more than 40 years on tv, "all my children" and "one life to live" have been cancelled, a move that means farewell to two classic daytime dramas. they were two of the best-loved and longest-running soap operas, "all my children" chronicled the lives of people in a fictional town of pine valley and starred the iconic susan lucci. >> i'm only trying to say this for your own good. >> the award-winning "one life

to live" began its run in 1968. >> i'm pregnant. >> the show gained praise for pushing social boundaries but was criticized at times for controversial storylines. >> would you? >> the move will leave abc with only one daytime drama. it follows a trend of cancellations. only six soap operas currently air on the networks. in 1970, there were 19. in their heyday, afternoon dramas had wide-spread appeal among college students and stay at home moms. >> you're not watching a beginning, middle, and end in 19 minutes. you could watch a story play out for years. >> honey, i'm home. >> soaps feep chur twi s featur. >> erica cain, went to jail, went to rehab, had an abortion, married ten times. they've come to know these characters but they keep watching and they're invest in them. >> over time, audiences

dwindled. as they're seen as an escape from reality, soap operas are being replaced by reality shows which are cheaper to produce. >>e had a place in the landscape, but the show makeovers are what people are watching today. >> still, the fans of the two cancelled shows will likely be in mourning for the loss of "all my children" and the death of "one life to live". >> i wish i had the separate sound track of amy during that. you knew every one of those characters. >> there's bobby. no, i loved tad, i loved all of the characters on "all my children." it was more wholesome than some of the reality soap operas we get. >> you knew each other. you look at the drama and the reality shows. >> they're both acting in most of them, right? >> still to come on "today". >> we'll be back. ♪ make me say la la la la la la ♪ [ woman ] now with a little magic from mom,

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good morning to you, looking live at downtown san jose, near hp pavilion near san jose. you will have almost the full weekend with no rain. rob tells us about the rest of the weekend in this forecast. >> this weekend starting off on a mild note. though we're going to have to watch for some clouds out of the north that are going to drop down and give us at least the chance for a few sprinkles and showers in the far north bay. then the end of the weekend, we'll have a chance for a little more rain. 40s and 50s outside, for the

north bay, a chance for a stray shower or two. you can see our temperatures here, as we head through the afternoon, close to 70s in san jose. 63 around san francisco and some mid 60s in the north bay. so a lot of sunshine south of san jose, extra clouds off to the north. then late sunday we'll see the clouds thicken up leading to some rain sunday night heading into monday. a deadly gas line explosion in san bruno may have been triggered by a crew doing electrical work a crew of private investigators told federal and state investigators that they were working at a terminal when they turned off what they thought was an unused circuit breaker. but when the breaker shut off it may have caused a power surge on pg & e's pipeline. get ready to start maying

more for your gas and electric bill. state regulators granted pg&e a $120 million rate hike over the next four years. the average residential customer will likely see the bill go from $51.60 to about $51.96 this year and by 2014, charges could be as high as 58.16. the increase had been in the works before last year's deadly pipeline explosion. it is likely pg&e will ask for more rate hikes after the investigation is settled. a mud slide forcedor e closures on highway 101 south of big sur. highway 1 has been closed off and on near rocky creek north of big sur where part of the roadway slipped into the sea a few weeks ago. a california woman is suing the website match.com claiming she was matched up with a sex

offender. the woman said she was sexual assaulted during her second date with allen paul wertzel. the lawsuit is asking match.com to begin screening its members. the site's attorney says screening would offer a false sense of security to its users. and we have much more coming p up for you on "today in the bay" including a story about a giant pot bust in hayward where a lot of marijuana was confiscated. we have much more coming up in 30 minutes right here and the "today" show continues in just a few minutes. [ female announcer ] why settle for plain bread when you can have pillsbury grands! flaky layers biscuits? the warm, light delicate layers are like nothing else. add a layer of excitement to your next meal. ♪

[ younger brother ] oh, do you want it? yeah. ok, we'll split it. [ female announcer ] made fresh, so light... ...butterynd flaky... this is half. that is not half. guys i have more. [ female announcer ] do you have enough crescents? >> we are back on a saturday morning. april 16, 2011. a large spring break crowd joining us here. always happy to have folks come down. if you're in the neighborhood, stop by. outside on the plaza, i'm lester holt by amy robach. the dangerous weather system we saw in the southeast is now moving. >> a two-day tornado outbreak across the south and the plains has taken a heavy toll, a death toll of 16. the storm is heading east.

a live report of the dangerous weather and what to expect this weekend in a moment. >> we continue to watch this story grow on new york's long island and the search for a serial killer. they keep finding body parts, human remains there. looking in the water. trying to discern, are they looking at one crime spree, two crime sprees? two killers? the latest on that coming up. >> one of the most infamous unsolved crimes in american history. we're talking about lizzie borden, did she kill her father and step mother. she was found not guilty. but no one else was charged with the murders. so who did it? we went to the home where the murders took place, gruesome murders, might i add. >> and switch gears and talk about jennifer lopez. how about her? she continues to transform her career, the former fly girl is back in a big way to selling records, winning over millions now as judge on american idol doing a great job in the minds of a lot of folks. just named the most beautiful woman in the world. what's her secret?

we'll find out more. >> hair stylist and great jeans. more on the deadly weather. >> we do. >> jim cantore is in tuscaloosa, alabama where he's seen firsthand some of the damage in the storm system that's killed as many as 16 people. jim, good morning. good morning, lester. seven alone here in alabama. state of emergency declared. you can see the kind of damage. power poles snapped, huge pines laying on their side here as we've seen in so many cases here. we've had 120 tornados in the last two days. that's well above what you'd average -- what you'd see for an average couple of days in april. but take you back to yesterday. this is a tornado in jackson, mississippi that, believe it or not, the same supercell, which is a pair of thunderstorms that produced that tornado moved all the way up here to tuscaloosa and produced this damage. that's how long these tornadoes were. some of them had been wild too. take you back to oklahoma two days ago. this is a multi-vortex tornado where two tornadoes are actually pinning around each other.

and oftentimes when you see one house damaged and the other one left completely fine, the reason for that is because you had a multi-vortex tornado. either way, you slice it, the threat isn't over. here in alabama, mississippi, all the way back to oklahoma, it's all about the cleanup today. back to you. >> jim cantore. thanks very much. >> bill karins is here now with a look at where the storm is heading next now. >> oklahoma, arkansas, alabama, missssissippi, tell the people the carolinas to take this storm seriously. tornado watches. conditions are favorable in this rly morning hours for tornadoes. heading up to the charlotte area. north florida in the day today. later this afternoon, the threat. this looks to be a good threat. the area in red, a strong risk of tornadoes and severe weather from norfolk, virginia beach, wilmington, myrtle beach, keep an eye to the skies to make sure you have plans in case a tornado heads your way. let's get over to melissa francis at the newsdesk with the

latest on our top stories. good morning. >> good morning, everyone. we begin in washington where the house passed republican paul ryan's 2012 budget plan on friday. the plan cuts $6 trillion from the deficit over the next decade partly by raising the eligibility age of medicare recipients. it's expected, though, to fail in the senate this as president obama said friday that he believes congress will raise the country's debt limit and failure to do so would devastate the u.s. economy. now on to texas where a firefighter was killed on friday while fighting a wild fire. the 51-year-old volunteer with 20 years of experience died fighting a blaise west of dallas. wild fires sweeping the state have burned 650 square miles, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of people. new details about a deadly new york bus crash last month. the national transportation safety board said before the crash, the bus was traveling at the maximum speed at 78 mile-per-hours.

the speed limit on the highway is 50 mile-per-hours. 15 people died when the bus slammed into a sign post. finally, the latest act of the beleaguered broadway musical "spider-man" turn off the dark. after a month of previews that featured injured actors, bad reviews, and the firing of the writer/director, the $70 million show will go dark for three weeks sunday night. the creative team will retool the show during that time. previews resume in mid may and the show is set to officially reopen june 14 again. let's a check of the news. now back outside to amy on the plaza. >> thank you, melissa. let's get a check of the weather with bill karins on the plaza with me. take it away. >> thanks, amy. wonderful sign here. take a look at this. it must be from some of the talent in the group. who are you with? >> the art club. >> you made it here. well done. you should be holding this sign. talk about the forecast today. the severe weather threat.

the middle of the country, windy, cooler behind this system. out in the west, record high. the next storm system is moving on shore in these areas of oregon and idaho. deal with more severe weather with that system as it gets through the plains as it goes from monday to tuesday. a break for now and all of the goods saturday morning to you, we're watching kind of a mild forecast, which you'll notice there on the satellite, we'll have a chance of a few showers dropping into the far north bay, with highs around 70 in the north bay. cool at the golden gate where we'll see some showers off to the north to start the weekend. but by the time the weekend wraps up tomorrow, we'll see some rain from north so south. rainy on monday but clearing out for the middle part of the week. storms. that's a look at your national forecast, lester? bill, thankings. in the man hunt for the serial

killer led to a beach in long island. mitchell franzen joins us with the latest. good morning. good morning. the investigation intensified this week after the discovery of more skeletal remains along the main highway leading here to jones beach. roughly 15 miles of sandy and rugged terrain now part of the search and the place where a killer or killers are using as a dumping ground. >> reporter: the search for more bodies and more clues expanded this week in the serial killer case on new york's long island. from the air, the fbi used high-tech imagining equipment to scan the stretch of heavy brush and sanidy coastline and divers near the water near oak beach discovered what they described as a small bone. investigators have yet, though, to determine if it is human. so far, ten sets of human remains have been uncovered in suffolk and nassau counties. >> what we're looking for any and all evidence associated with the skeletal remains and, of course, we're still searching for shannon gilbert.

>> reporter: shannon gilbert sparked the initial search late last year after family members reported her missing. in december, police discovered four bodies on the barrier southern shoreline. in march, another body. one mile away. in early april, three more settles of remains. and this past week, two new settles of human remains, including a skull, were uncovered. it was revealed this week among the victims, a child lying next to a woman, likely not connected to the serial case. but investigators still don't know who would dump the other bodies, and if more than one person is involved. >> what we want to do is we want to get all of the evidence we possibly can to make a determination on who did this and bring them to justice. >> police have identified four bodies, including melissa barthelemy missing since july of 2009. melissa's mother, lynn, said she believes it killer used her daughter's cell phone in 2009 to call the family several times and telling melissa's sister he

killed her. >> he has to be caught. >> and investigators believe the targeted victims worked as prostitutes in the area and uses craigslist to advertise. serial killer profiler pat brown says the gruesome trail of remains likely, giving investors key leaves. >> the most important clues they have is the location of the body. the simple fact that someone found a good dumping ground means he lives in the area probably to the east where the bodies were dumped. >> investigators are not expected to be out searching today. they're not releasing much information on what they have found yet. the fbi tells nbc news they have seized the computer from a suspected temp who knew one of the victims but they don't consider him a person of interest unless they're more interested in learning what they find from the computer records. >> thank you. more on the investigation is criminologist casey jordan. great to have you here. >> good morning, lester.

>> ten bodies. the prospect for more. we heard it referred to as a dumping ground. it makes me wonder could we be looking at more than one crime here, perhaps two killers are at work? >> we only really started to consider that seriously in the last four weeks. the four bodies found in december seem to be disconnected to the ones that have been found in the last two weeks. the pattern was definitely broke within the discovery of the remains of a child, perhaps the child's apparently the remains man at that site. this breaks a pattern. it's so old they can be attributed to serial killer joel riff kin apprehended 20 years ago. >> who denies the bodies in that area. it's a possibility. >> it's a possibility. and the bodies found in the last few days may or may not be connected to the december or the march/april settles of bos of b >> getting to the age of the remains found there. what does it say about the risk

there could be more killingin g. could this be a community in fear. >> once it gets amped out and a lot of progress is being made, it would be extremely rare for a serial killer to taunt the police. we have seen that. son of sam did that. the snipers, the dc snipers. but, generally, the more close you get to your suspect, the more they're going to lay low, try to let everything blow over. they very often can't do this indefinitely, but as long as the heat is on, i don't think you'll see anymore deaths. >> you recall last weekend "the new york times" had an article quoting police suggesting that the killer in this case, assuming it was one killer, could be in law enforcement or had intimate knowledge of law enforcement techniques because he had apparently called the family of the victims. did it wiin a crowded place wita throw away phone. techniques that would make them

harder to locate it. do you buy into it? >> maybe 20 years ago, that was specialized knowledge. but we live in the world of "csi" and "law & order" and the popularity of forensic shows are so huge. they love the true crime books and love to watch the shows. the idea that you need to keep your phone calls quick so you can't triangle late your cell service, everybody knows that. they assumed businewas speciali knowledge, but a wannabe, a law enforcement groupie might know. >> what do you make of the fact that he made this call to the relatives. what do you think it's the motivation driving this person? >> that's the most disturbing thing to date. the taunting of the 15-year-old sister, several phone calls, hanging up when the mother answers. the power of control. this person wants to intimidate and taunt someone less powerful. unthinkable, psychological

torture. to tell her at the end, i had sex with your sister and killed her. it tells me the man is sexually motivated and wrapped up in the power of cat and mouse control. >> we appreciate it. thanks. >> always good to be here. >> the plaine mdryteys mystery lizzie borden after these messages.

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case that made headlines more than a century ago, the borden intrigue endures to this day. the scene of the crime remains virtually the same. sit a true crime nursery rhyme -- >> lizzie borden took an ax. gave her mother 40 whacks when she saw what she had done gave her father 41. >> the story of lizzie borden, a stoic new england spinster accused of one of the most shocking double murders in american history. elizabeth montgomery famously played her in a haunting tv movie. while lizzie was tried for killing her wealthy father and step mother, a jury found her not guilty. so what really happened on that summer day in 1892? for answers, we travel to fall rivers, massachusetts where the borden house appears the same way it did more than a century

ago. if you think time stands still on the outside, wait until you see who's at the door. >> hello, there. i'm leanne wilbur and i'm one of the owners of the lizzie borden bed and breakfast museum. welcome to my house. please come in. >> that's right. an infamous crime scene is now a b&b. for a price, you can spend the night in the rooms where andrew and abbey borden lived and died. >> this is the room where mr. borden was found here on the sofa. >> that's what makes it so chilling is that you really feel like that body could be right there. it's the same room that it feels in. >> dressed in period costumes for tours, wilbur bought the house a few years back and says people come to visit and like herself speculate. >> do you think she's guilty? >> let's just say i don't think she's completely innocent. >> reporter: what we know for sure is that on august 4, 1892, lizzie told a neighbor that her father, a frugal banker had been killed, hacked to death in the

sitting room. shortly later, lizzie's step mother is found murdered upstairs. >> this is where her body is, yes? >> yes. right on the floor. between the bed and the dresser. >> you had people put their -- want to put a cot right there where the body was? to fully experience this oroom. >> the cot does fit right there. a lot of people prefer to sleep on the floor. >> that's creepier. >> no one but lizzie was at home at the time of the killings and no one was arrested. the case was circumstantial evidence. and much of the evidence is preserved today at the fall river historical society, including the blood-stained bedspread, hair samples, and this -- >> this is the hatchet that was introduced as evidence? >> yes. >> michael martins, co-curator of the historical society let me hold the alleged murder weapon. it's still sharp it's creepy

what could be the murder weapon, what was presented as the murder weapon. i kind of want to put it down. martins, who along with co-curator has written a new book on the case. says the real lizzie was far different from the myth created over time. >> she was a giving person, a very caring person. she loved children. she was a religious person, a pious one. >> what ever became of lizzie after the verdict? she inherited her father's fortune and moved to a mansion in fall river which she called maplecroft where crowds would gather to catch a glimpse of her. while she never married, she has relatives who live to this day. >> i've been proud of my borden heritage. it has nothing to do with lizzie. >> she wears period costumes to re-enact the case with others is certain of one thing. >> i do believe lizzie did it. >> did she or didn't she? the mystery may never be solved.

but if you find yourself in fall river, drop by the borden house, just be ready should something go bump in the night. and the b&b owner leanne wilbur, she doesn't like to call the house haunted but she prefers to say it's active. she's felt things, seen things. i've got stung by a yellow jacket when i was there. >> really. >> that's kind of scary. >> i'm wrapping my arms of people wanting to sleep on the floor where the body was found. >> i'm not one of those people, you're not one of those people. there are people out there and good luck to you. not me. [ coach ] in albuquerque, citi pre-approved my mortgage. [ whistle blows ] all right, layups, guys. let's go. in sioux falls, i locked in a rate.

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good morning, take a live look at the traffic flowing through oakland. i'm kris sanchez, here's rob with the forecast. >> the weekend startling off on a mild note, we're going to have to watch for some clouds out of the north that are going to drop down and give us a few sprinkles or light showers in the far north bay, then the rest of the weekend we'll see a chance for a little bit of rain.

40s and 50s outside for the north bay, a chance that we could see a stray shower or two. as we head towards the afternoon, close to the 70s in the afternoon. 63 around san francisco, and some mid 60s in the north bay. so a lot more sunshine south of san jose, extra clouds off to the north, then late sunday we'll see the clouds thicken up leading to some rain sunday night, heading into monday.

we are back on this saturday morning, april 16, 2011. we have a great spring break crowd with us on the plaza. we want to thank them for spending part of their morning with us. i'm amy robach along with lester holt. still coming up here, the return of j-lo. >> she's hitting her stride. on "american idol," named "people" magazine's most beautiful woman. she's come a long way from jenny on the block. more from the stunning 41-year-old superstar in a conversation coming up.

also, the kate effect. the princess bride hasn't even walked down the aisle yet. but she has the american wedding industry watching and waiting adds women here in the u.s. are turning their big day to a royal affair. we're going to have that story ahead. spring is arriving in some parts of the country. so we hear. and that means that we're trying to get ready for lawn and gardening type things. the power tools, the lawnmowers, the leaf blowers, getting them in tiptop shape. doing things from last fall. what you need to do to get them cleaned up and ready to go. >> before we get to all of that, a check of the forecast with bill karins on the plaza with us. bill? good saturday morning, everyone. hello, cowgirl, where are you from? >> south carolina. >> you want to introduce your brother and sister? >> this is douglas, that's jane. >> that's jane? >> you know what your sign say right here? my boyfriend is who? >> owen. >> i hope owen is watching this morning. how cute is that.

give your forecast for the weekend. take you through today. the severe weather threat is there from the carolincarolinas carolina to north carolina. a nasty day through the great plains to the great lakes. it's a nice quiet day today in the middle of the country. all of the storm systems that brought up the severe storms will be gone by sunday, south beach from california to florida looks great. that's going to move to california to the . good saturday morning to you, we're watching kind of a mild forecast, but you'll notice on the satellite, we'll have a chance for rain, around 70s in the north bay. we'll see some extra clouds and showers off to the north. we'll see a chance of rain moving in north to south, rain on your monday and turning mild again for the middle part of the

week. ar it out by sunday afternoon even in new en that's your forecast. bl ster? bill, thanks. now to the biggest star from this season's "american idol." she's not on the stage. we're talking about jennifer lopez whose turn as a judge may be her best role yet. we have more. she's at the top of the charts. on the number one tv show in the country. >> a huge congratulations to jennifer lopez. >> and at 31, jennifer lopez is the most beautiful woman in the world. "people" magazine just honored her with a title. and for them, it was an obvious choice. >> no surprise to jennifer that she's bigger and better than ever at this point. she feels strong, confident as a woman. >> because i kind of have grown into myself, you know? i'm very happy. >> lopez worked her way up from fly girl on "in living color" to

hollywood's hottest triple threat, putting out chart-topping albums and number one movies. jenny from the block is still everywhere. ♪ i'm still jenny from the block." >> she hit bumps. diva behavior and box office bombs like gigli and just when it looked like her star was fading, she signed on to be a judge on "american idol," revitalizing her career. >> america is so excited to see what she's going to bring. she brings it. >> her experience, advice, and dazzling style encourages hopefuls and captivates viewers week after week. lopez has successful product lines, lucrative endorsement deals, and just finished shooting her latest music video in mexico. >> i'm lucky to do what i love for so long and continue to be able to do it. >> there seems to be no stopping this married mother of two, reminding us that some things do

indeed get better with age. for today, nbc news, los angeles. joining us for more on the return of jennifer lopez is "people" magazine's michelle tam. good to see you. >> thanks for having me. >> if i recall, there were a few people who were skeptical and the fans took to her, right? >> absolutely. a new change for her. we know her as a movie star. we've seen her on music videos. this is her in the tv realm. she's brought it and she's shown a nice side to her which is something she was excited to do. >> she gives real insight when she talks to the contestants. real musical insight. is this a good career move? did she need to do "idol". >> she constantly challenges herself with music and acti ini roles. this is a new realm she's stepped into. she embraced it. people embraced her. >> she's named "people" magazine's most beautiful person. does she have a new face of this

whole idea of american beauty. >> she gives women of all ages hope. she's 41 years old. looks flawless and amazing and she's part of a group of women like jennifer aniston and hall lee barry who say you don't have to be 20 to be vibrant and vital in hollywood. >> we talked about her roots as a fly girl on "in living color." is she an example of people who can continue to reinvent themselves in a better way? >> absolutely. she challenges herself. she's willing to take risks not only with her looks but her career. it's paid off. there eve been bumps in the road. but without the risks, she wouldn't be where she is now. >> she spoke publicly especially to "people" magazine about her marriage to mark anthony. >> she feels beautiful right now. when she announced she won the most beautiful person on "american idol." he was standing right beside her. it's constant support. >> what do men compliment you the most?

>> men don't compliment jennifer lopez because they're a little afraid of mark. >> great answer. she stepped out of the scene to take care of the twins. >> 3-year-old twins. >> has mother hood agreed with her? how does she juggle it? she's making records, doing "idol," making commercials. >> she credits her family. mother hood is a number one priority for her. that's what she brought to "american idol." she shows her nice side and her nurturing side to the "idol" contesta contestants. >> can she call her own shots. >> she has a new album coming up. anything is possible for jennifer lopez is what we learned. >> great cover story. great selection. >> thank you. how kate middleton is reshaping our billion dollar bridal industry, but first, these messages.

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here in america are taking a page out of the very regal ceremony. meet kate middleton, future princess and one-woman marketing machine. >> she's fantastic for the economy. she's fantastic for fashion as well. she's not too extreme. people can look at her and relate to her. >> item like this classic trench and striking blue dress sold out in stores hours after kate wore them. not to mention the newfound popularity of sapphire rings and fas nay tore hats. >> more presence on people's heads at the moment than i've seen before. >> with her formidable fashion influence, this british bride has the $100 billion american wedding industry bracing for her walk down the aisle. >> everyone in the world is going to be watching this dress. >> at kleinfeld bridal, randy is prepping for the princess impact. >> kate is a little more

sophisticated in her taste levelment when she walks down the aisle, it will be showing. there's going to be a resurgence in tiaras and crowns. >> american brides to be are going to be interested in it. >> i'm interest in the style, the mermaid or a ball gown. >> with kate as her glamour guide, michelle o'connor's wedding with adam will be aiming for nobility. >> the classic look is what i'm going for. >> it looks like a crown. >> it does. >> it's like the top part goes up. >> i love it. >> crystal mcguire has a chance to stand out just like kate. >> it's not going to be as glitzy as the royal wedding but it will be my own special wedding. >> all it takes is the right groom and the perfect dress. >> i absolutely love it. can't even put it in to words.

>> you're supposed to be -- >> yeah, that's how i feel. i feel like -- oh! >> after i do, the reception where the regal flare will be found in the details. >> so it starts with the invitation, the presentation of the food in the bouquet of crystals and important elements of the texture and the flowers. sophistication detailed opule e opulence. when the guest dines at this royal setting, the guests will receive the royal treatment. not just the bride and groom. >> only one woman can marry prince william, but the wedding industry is ready to give any bride a royal wedding. >> i feel like i could be the queen for the day with this dress on. ♪ got the best of our love >> here with more is heather levine, senior fashion editor for theknot.com and the heather from "people" magazine. good morning to you.

>> good morning. >> let's talk about wanting to be a bride. being a princess, wearing a tiara. how is this wedding expecting modern brides? >> the truth is not about the tiara and the ball gown, it's about finding the dress that fits your unique personal style. that's when you feel great, beautiful, and like a princess. >> whatever kate wears, you know that will have a huge impact on what other brides want to wear. what do we know? everyone is dying to get a morsel of information. >> well, we do know, yes, this dress is being kept closely guarded secret. we can't expect that kate will not go strapless. because of the history of westminster abbey, she will most likely have her arms covered. and because it's such a large and grand venue, we expect the building skirt so she can't get lost in the grand space. >> british oddsmakers are taking bets on what kate will wear. how difficult is it to keep this a secret? >> she's done a fantastic job of keeping it a secret.

we've interviewed british royal watchers. >> you've tried. >> we've tried to crack this. some people believe the dress is being made inside the palace as we speak and the desyner may be someone no one's heard of. >> we know bridal fashion week was just this past week. are we starting to see some of the princess trends on the runway? >> absolutely. the desyner took kate's big gown. we've seen them from carilina herreraened to osaka day la ren at a, not one gown without the covered shoulders. >> interesting. >> lots of tvgs iiaras. tons of tiaras at her show and oscar de la renta. beautiful trains, one was 12 feet long. so we're seeing a lot of grandeur and decadence in the

runways. >> suzanne, we know the big news, we know kate threw the first rehearsal ceremony at westminster abbey yesterday. what's the plan for the day? >> what's so fabulous is buckingham palace is running like clockwork. we know exactly what time kate is going to arrive at the abbey. it will be 11:00 a.m. when we get that moment where we can see the dress and feast our eyes on it. of course, after the ceremony, at 1:25 p.m. exactly, in britain, kate and william will emerge on to the balcony and we're hoping, of course, much like his parents did 30 years ago, they will kiss. and sort of impacting that -- >> they have to kiss. >> they have to kiss. we all want them to kiss. and adding to the drama of that moment, the royal air force will be having a flyover. military planes in the air, better than fireworks. >> on the big day, what are industry insiders looking for in terms of what's going to become the next big wedding trend?

>> in is it statethe states, we used to that morning reception. it's huge in britain. we see that being a big trend. and younger bridal parties. now we know that london population is known for that. we're going to see more flower girls and more junior bridesmaids for sure. >> thank you so much. we appreciate it. >> tur. back, but first, this is "today" on nbc. [ female announcer ] why settle for plain bread

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they continue to profit... by selling kids the same lies... to get them to use... the same deadly products. don't be big tobacco's next victim. doing more with spring today is brought to you by the home dep depot. more savings, more doing, that's the power of home depot. this morning, we continue our series with "do more with spring" today with everything you need to know to get your garden tools ready for spring. from the lawn mower to the hedge trimmer, more than just turning them on. a little maintenance goes a long

way. dave white with the home depot. good to have you on. >> thanks for having me. >> hopefully by last fall, you would have drained the fuel out of your lawn mower. right? >> you're on it. a lot of the things we talk about are things you should be doing before you store your lawn equipment. a lot of people forget about it. i'll talk you through that. >> but you need to scrub it and change the air filter. >> a lot of simple maintenance i can show you because you want them to last a long, long time. >> did i say that? >> i did. i couldn't help it. the engine has debris. so make sure you check your air filter. this is on the side. >> is that something you replace or clean? >> this needs be replaced. it's paper. you rinse out and put a little oil on them and back in to clean them. you mentioned the oil on the gas, all right? hopefully you've drained the oil

and replaced it. find anything you need in terms of where to get replacement parts, how much oil to put in and all that stuff. >> we want to replace the spark plug. >> disconnect the spark plug because we're going to talk about cleaning up the underside of the mower. it's important for before you use it. if your lawn has disease, you can spread that disease by all of the debris. >> you take a hose to it. >> scrub with a brush, take a hose to it. get it good and dry before you store it. a dull blade is not going to cut it, literally. it's going to tear it. so if you see your grass and it looks like it's getting torn instead of sliced, you need to sharpen it. you can replace it. you can use a flat file. sharpen it yourself. use a flat file, wear gloves, flatten it down. buy a drill attachment. this is cool.

this goes on to the end of your drill. you put it against the blade. it guides you. it rotates. or take it to our home depot tool rental services. they'll sharpen it for you. >> lawn trimmer ifs we can. >> absolutely. this is a battery-powered lawn trimmer. this is lit i don't know ion. but they work the same. the main question we get is how do i change the string? it drives people crazy. >> string is good for one season, perhaps? >> depends. i use mine for edging a lot. i have to replace it really often. people are really intimidated. this one, you're going to pop off the cap, you can see we're out of string here, but you end up with what's called a spool. buy replacement spools like these ones right here. but it's more economical to buy replacement string. keep it handy. it's so simple. >> a pre-measured amount of string. >> you can cut off six to eight feet off of the roll. and all you have to do is insert one end. see if i can get this end in there. and you simply turn it and wind

it. there's really great instructions. you can't see it. it's an arrow there, tells you which way to wind it. you can't mess up. >> this is a single string. it only has one string sticking out. for your gas powered, you have two strings sticking out like this. this is a replacement head. i bought one of these for mine. if your head wears down, you bump to the ground and let the string out when you're doing it. you need more string, you hit it. the string extends. those wear out. so this replaces those for a lot of -- >> yeah. >> but the cool thing is, the replacement on this is simply put the string through. feed it through as much as you can. then all you have to do is twist it. and it winds right up in there. so there's really in taking it apart. >> using -- >> it's great. >> leaf blowers. can't imagine what maintenance you do on this? >> not a lot. these are two-cycle engines. two stroke engines. they have is it gas and the oil mixed together. unlike the lawn mower like a car

that has the separate oil and gas. the most important thing, when you store it, you want to drain the gas like you do on the lawn mower. and that has the oil in it. if you start out fresh, you want to use fresh gas and oil. you can buy oil in a little container like this. it says on the front. use one of these per gallon of gas. mix it together. give it a little shake. and this thing is going to run a long, long time. >> good to have you here. thanks very much. giving us hope that spring will occur. >> hope so. >> we'll be right back. but first, these messages. 'cause every time you get a happy meal or a mighty kids meal some of the money goes to ronald mcdonald house charities. happy meals. the simple joy of helping. air optix contacts let up to five times more oxygen through the lens for enhanced breathability. air optix. the lens you can survive a long day in. go to airoptix.com for a free one-month trial offer.

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this's going to do it for us on this saturday morning. thank you, bill karins, melissa frances. coming up, a woman who's struggling with a food addiction. and the snowboarding wave that turns 5. we saw it in vancouver next year. see you on "nightly news" so long.

good morning, i'm kris sanchez. coming up next on "today in the bay," a critical weekend for the giants fans so many of you are rooting for. we'll tell you what doctors are say saying he is in a comb machlt. >> he was laying on the ground bleeding, crying and shaking. i knew it was over. i was like this is how we die, we die alone, we die brutally. a brutal crime in a city that prides itself on being tolerant. and how's this for a hair

brained scheme? thieves break into a business, by pass is cash register and grab something else instead. we'll shownd